


The Anniversary

by MelindaTheCavalryMay



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Nostalgia, Philinda 24 Kisses, Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 14:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2776637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelindaTheCavalryMay/pseuds/MelindaTheCavalryMay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for Philinda 24 Kisses on Tumblr. </p><p>Prompt was : Movies. </p><p>Some dates have a special meaning associated with it, Philinda celebrate one such day !</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Anniversary

"You called for me ?" May asked entering Coulson's office, standing near the door. 

"Yes I did, come in" Phil replied with a huge grin on his face. 

"You look pretty happy for a guy drowned in paper work" Melinda said with a smirk, entering and walking towards Phil's desk and then said "but then you always liked paperwork" 

Phil leaned back is his chair, rolling up his sleeves, smiling like a dork and looking at May.

"Ok, what's wrong ?" May asked, wrapping her arms around her chest.

"Why do you think something's wrong ?" Coulson asked getting up from his chair to walk around and lean on the desk.

"Ask that grin of yours ! You're smiling" May said with a smirk. 

"Hey don't blame me if I have a happy face" Coulson replied. 

"This is not that general grin of yours Phil, it's that I am hiding something from you, kind of smile" May replied raising an eyebrow. 

"Do you actually have classifications on types of smiles ?" Coulson asked her, his eyes wide with surprise. 

"A person's expression tells a lot about what's going on in his mind" Melinda replied "and since like you say you have a 'happy face', I have to make sure to know what each smile of yours means" Melinda replied. 

"Ok now you're just bluffing, genius" Coulson replied with a smirk of his own. 

"Maybe" May replied smiling at him. 

They both chuckled and Coulson stretched out his arm and said "Come Here" 

“Tell me seriously is everything ok ?” May asked walked towards him and taking his hand. 

“umm .. maybe” Coulson replied a bit nervously. 

May climbed up onto the the desk beside Coulson who was still standing,leaning his back on the desk. He looked up at her to see that she seemed a bit worried. Knowing that she was concerned about him, he decided to speak up before she asked any questions “Don’t worry, nothing is wrong with me” and then he mumbled to himself “at least not medically” and just like always Melinda caught the part he mumbled and so she asked 

“what do you mean not medically ? then what’s wrong ?” 

“Stop asking so many questions” Coulson told her, “just enjoy the silence” he continued. 

“huh ?” May looked at him confused and then shrugged her shoulders and said “Ok, then why did you call me ? I have to go downstairs and check on the team, they’ve been planning something, I noticed when I returned back from my evening Tai-Chi.” 

Phil looked at Melinda as she stretched her shoulders and neck. He knew she was tired and she needed to relax, but then she was Melinda May, she would never actually ask for a break or tell them if it was needed, thankfully he already had some ideas. 

“You’re not going anywhere” he said. Melinda looked at him confused “and why is that ?”

He just shrugged his shoulders and replied “because I am the Director and it’s an order” 

Melinda snorted at that before Phil could ask she replied “Well that definitely means you’re involved in whatever they’re planning, just don’t burn down the playground or break your bones and stuff’ Melinda replied. 

Phil couldn’t help but laugh at that. Melinda knew him so well, she had managed to easily guess that he was busy planning something, but he knew she wouldn’t be able to guess what or why. 

“Ok then, I’m leaving” Melinda replied getting down from his desk. 

“Oh no you’re not” Phil said grasping her wrist. 

Melinda turned around to look at him, she was angry but at the same time the way he suddenly held her wrist was making her nervous. She had worked really hard to keep her feelings for him buried, because that’s what he wanted right ? He wanted her as his best friend and she would be that for him, just the way he wanted her to be, he had Audrey and she was happy for him, but she couldn’t refuse there were moments when the way he looked at her, when he gave her one of those smiles, and when he held her like this, that she would feel butterflies in her stomach, and her heart beat faster. 

“What are you up to Phil ?” She asked faking to be irritated by his attitude. 

“To find that out, you are going to do just as I say” he replied. 

Now Melinda was curious, what was this guy up to after all ? 

“I want you to go to my bunk and wait for me there” he said strictly. 

Melinda’s eyes widened at that. Does he even know what he’s asking for ? Was he ok ? 

“Phil are you …” Melinda began but was cut off “No I am not joking and yes I’m asking you to go to my bunk, and wait for me there” 

Before Melinda could even react, he stood up and left his office. 

Melinda slowly dragged herself into his room. When she entered his room, she could feel herself growing nervous. She was here, when he asked her to stay back after his first ever Hypergraphia episode but now everything was fine, so she dismissed that thought, though entering his room created a totally new set of nervous feelings within her. Phil was a simple man, but his room was like his zone, a place where he would be just Phil Coulson and not the Director of a secret Organisation. She could see his collectibles in the room, the Captain America poster he had since he was 10, a few pics, one of them which caught her attention was the one beside his bed, it had Isabelle,Sitwell,Phil and Herself, from their days in the academy. She felt herself smile watching that and then sat on his bed waiting for him to come. 

As Phil got downstairs, Skye,Jemma and Fitz rushed over to him. 

“You told her ?”Skye asked getting to the point. 

He opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Jemma “Of Course he didn’t, his face doesn’t yet have that excitement” 

Skye answered Jemma “Yeah and if he had he wouldn’t be here right now would he ?” Skye had a huge grin on her face, he again for a second wondered why did the kids have to help him out with this ?

“She doesn’t remember the date does she ?” Fitz asked him. 

“I would love to answer if you kids would allow me to” Phil replied. 

They waited for Phil to continue, and Phil realising this was the best chance before they started talking amongst themselves said. 

“No she doesn’t remember the date, and yes I haven’t told her yet but I will, right now I need to ask you did you get it ?” Phil asked. 

“Here you go sir, like you asked” Lance said entering the room. Taking the DVD from his hand, Phil thanked him and then turned to Skye, who was ready with the bowl of popcorn in her hand. 

“Thank you, now you all go out and have fun, don’t get into any trouble” Phil said. 

They all nodded his head and turned around to leave, Skye grinned and came up to him and said “Good luck” and left. 

He saw them leave, he was a lucky guy to have such a team which was almost like a family but right now he had to go back upstairs to spend time with May and remind her of what it was today.

___________________________________________

May here was getting nervous as Phil was taking quite some time to come. She wouldn’t admit but working non stop was taking a toll on her, she could say her 10 minutes Tai Chi break in the evening could be counted as the only proper break she took in the whole day, but right now waiting here for Phil, did seem like a break. She didn’t have to do anything, just wait for him, moreover, the room felt so much like Phil that it made her happy, his presence always had the power to help her relax. That was another reason, she couldn’t tell him about her feelings for him, being more than friendship, she couldn't afford losing the friendship they had in case he didn’t reciprocate those feelings.  
Her rail of thought was interrupted when she heard footsteps. Immediately standing up from his bed she went over to the sofa and sat their. 

Phil came a moment later, a huge smile on his face and something hidden behind his back. As soon as he entered he was frowning. 

“Why are you sitting there ? climb up on the bed” He said. 

‘you’ve got to be kidding’ May thought ‘she knew that Phil meant nothing like the way her mind was interpreting, but then he was looking at her with that goofy smile, the one that she loved so much, and this was getting tougher than expected. 

When she didn’t move Phil decided to ignore and said “Ok so remember what’s the day today ?”

Melinda thought for a moment, it wasn’t his birthday, it wasn’t her birthday either, Christmas was still 2 days away, was it an anniversary of something ? 

Phil pouted on realising she was still thinking “You forgot !” he said annoyed, Melinda could ask him what but that pout on his face was undoubtedly one of the most adorable things she had ever seen, she could just walk up to him and kiss him. 

“It’s the 23rd, that I know, Christmas is still 2 days away” She said apologetically, seeing Phil’s expression she had realised that this was something important for him, but she really couldn’t remember. 

“Ok maybe this’ll remind you” he said with a smile and stretched out his right hand to show her the dvd he was carrying. It was the 1984 Clive Donner's tv version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ “now do you remember ?” Phil asked. 

Melinda tried to place the pieces of the puzzles in place, 23rd December, Christmas Carol , Important Date .. and then upon the sudden realisation of the day, her eyes widened !! 

“It’s ‘The Anniversary’” Melinda replied, her face clearly indicating that she had now realised the importance of this day. “You still remember ?” she asked surprised. 

“Of course I do, how can I forget the day we went on out first mission ?” He asked, before Melinda could answer he continued “and the fact that after I saved you from that bay, we spent the rest of the day cuddled up in bed watching this movie on tv, because nothing else was coming, and we decided to make it an anniversary tradition” he replied with a grin. 

“Well you decided to make it a tradition Phil” Melinda said with a smirk. ‘so that’s what he was planning about’ she thought. 

“Yeah but you still became a part of it” Phil replied with a goofy smile. “You know you love spending this date with me, watching the movie” 

“Ok I do” Melinda replied. She couldn’t believe that he still remembered this so called tradition of theirs. After she was fished out of the bay, and they went back to their respective hotel rooms, Phil had knocked on her room door and had entered carrying popcorn for her. He wanted to apologise for not being able to come for her help immediately and May had faked being angry with him, but then it had vanished soon enough when he got under the covers with her and they began to watch the only movie they could see. Since then they did it every year after Phil had managed to get the movie on tape, until Bahrain happened and then they somehow got disconnected and 23rd December wasn’t celebrated again. 

“So what are you waiting for ? Climb in” Phil said. 

“What about the team ?” May asked. They had been dating the time this had first happened, so it was quite comfortable doing that, even now she wouldn’t mind but her feelings for him were stronger than ever and she didn’t want to know if she could control herself from kissing him. 

“I’ve sent them to enjoy, who knows if we’ll get time to celebrate Christmas, so since we’re free today, I asked them to go have fun” Phil answered. 

‘so now even the team excuse wouldn’t work’ May thought. “Well but there’s still something missing” Melinda said. 

“No there isn’t” Phil replied bringing forward his other had that carried a huge bowl of popcorn. 

He took off his jacket, shoes, belt and socks, climbed into the bed after inserting the disk into the huge tv set he had in his room, and waited for Melinda to come in. 

Even though this was something that made her nervous, Melinda did really want to enjoy the day again like the old times, so keeping her feeling aside,she walked to the other side and climbed in as well. 

Phil kept the bowl of popcorn in between them and hit play on the movie. 

A few minutes into the movie Melinda asked “how did you even get hold of this dvd ?” 

"I sent Lance to look for it and Skye prepared the popcorn."

Melinda looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise. 

“so that means the ….” Melinda said but was cut off “Yup, the kids know. They were talking of Christmas traditions when I mentioned about ours and that we never really continued it after Bahrain, they suggested we should start again, they thought you needed a chance to relax, though I think it was more like a chance for them to go out and have fun” Phil said chuckling. 

May lowered her head and chuckled as well, “yeah it was more of the latter” she said. 

She looked back at him, Phil still reminded her of the dorky guy, she went to the Academy with, the only guy she had dated from the academy, who went on to become her partner, her best friend,lover and back to best friend. Even the years that had changed them so much, hadn’t robbed them of what they had. It was nice, this was nice, she thought. She knew that her heart would always crave for more than this, but whatever they had now, she was glad for that. 

Phil looked at her staring at him, he knew he’d have to ask her soon, this thing could change a lot, this was going to be a big move. 

“Our scene in coming” he said and Melinda snapped her attention back to the screen. 

As soon as the Ghost of The Christmas Present came, Phil and Melinda got into their roles, like the old days, doing what they did, the first time they had seen the movie, and every time they saw it afterwards. 

Phil began “Look upon these” he said in a spooky voice.  
Melinda chuckled realising that she loved doing this again “What are they ?” she asked in an irritated voice.  
“They are your children! They are the children of all who walk the earth unseen! Their names are Ignorance and Want! Beware of them! For upon their brow is written the word "doom!" They spell the downfall of you and all who deny their existence!” they said together, laughing as they imitated the characters on screen. 

“Have they no refuge ?” Melinda asked imitating Scrooge.  
“Are there no workhouses ? No Prisons ?” Phil asked.  
“Cover them, I do not wish to see them” Melinda replied , covering her eyes with one hand imitating everything that was happening on screen. This had become a habit for them, this scene and many others that they used to imitate.  
“I thought as much” Phil replied. 

and both of them together said again “They are hidden … but they live… oh they live” both started laughing at that. Phil could see how beautiful Melinda looked when she laughed. As time had passed she smiled lesser and lesser, let alone laugh, but here she was, with him, laughing and chuckling like they had been transported back by 20 years again. If he could ensure, he would make her smile every single day. 

The movie went on and they enjoyed it, like they had the first time, eating popcorn, throwing a few kernels at each other in between, saying ‘bah! humbug’ loudly, every single time Scrooge said that on-screen. It had been years since they had started this tradition and years since they had stopped it, yet at this moment it felt like no time had passed, that they were still Melinda May And Phil Coulson , fresh graduates from the academy, on their first mission, even though the truth was far from that, they were now the heads of the organisation that had brought them together. 

They hadn’t realised, well to be frank Phil did but seemed like Melinda didn’t that as the movie went on, Melinda had curled herself into Phil’s warmth. She was sitting very close to him, her head resting on his outstretched arm by the time, the movie had almost come to an end Melinda could realise her eyelids had grown heavier, and she was feeling sleepy, her mind had told her she needed to get up from here once the movie was over and go back to her room, but her heart betrayed that, she couldn’t refuse the fact that she was really liking sitting here with Phil’s arms holding her securely. The warmth radiating from him that made her feel relaxed and secure.  
She was about to force herself to finally get up and leave when Phil asked “May if like Scrooge, you could change something, what would it be ?”

Phil’s question caught her off guard, she wanted to tell him that she would want to change those events leading to their break up, professionally she didn’t regret any decisions she had made, including going into the building alone in the Bahrain mission, but on a personal level pushing him away was her biggest regret, but she didn’t know if she could say that. 

When she didn’t answer Phil asked “You want to know what’s mine ?”. 

She lifted her head up to look at him, his eyes now extremely intense, full of emotions, trying to speak for him. 

“what ?” she asked softly, wondering what he’ll say, and how will she react when he says anything that’ll catch her off guard, how will she hold herself if he tells her that it was not telling Audrey he was alive. 

“Allowing you to push me away after Bahrain” he replied softly yet firmly. He tried to say everything he wanted to with that one line, the line caught her off guard but she wasn’t surprised, it wasn’t ‘I regret not telling Audrey I’m alive’ , it was ‘letting her push him away after Bahrain’ , even their biggest regrets were same. She also knew what this meant, that he was telling her that he wanted her in his life, like the way they used to be, that he felt about her the same way she felt about him. 

“Same here” she replied almost whispering. 

“Really ?” he asked, his eyes wide and surprised. 

“Really” she replied and a small smile graced her face, and he couldn’t help but smile too, the same goofy smile that drove her crazy. 

“So that means you still ..” he trailed off knowing that she understood his question. 

She simply nodded “Yes, I still have feeling for you” she said, just to confirm what he thought of her nod. 

Giving the biggest grin his face possibly could he leaned down towards her and she tilted up her head further as he caught her lips in a soft kiss. It was soft and gentle, just like Phil, she could taste the saltiness of the popcorn on his lips. Slowly he pulled himself from that kiss. A kiss that would change their lives, once again, a kiss that mean that even after spending so many years together, facing death and destruction, they were still that old Phil and Melinda somewhere. The way he held her as he wrapped his arms around her felt just like the old days, it just felt so natural, like something they had to do. Melinda looked at him and gave him a small smile, a perfect one for his grin and she rested her head back onto his chest, looking at the screen again with the last scene playing. She curled closer to him and wrapped one arm around him and he held her close, his chin resting on the top of her head. 

As ‘God Bless Us Everyone’ played for the final few credits, Phil glanced to see Melinda had fallen asleep, she looked even more gorgeous when she was asleep, especially if she wasn’t having any form of nightmare or worries. They knew they had to get up the next day and become Director Coulson and Agent May again, but for now, this was what he liked, what he enjoyed, he held her closer, brought his head down to press a soft kiss on the top of her head and whispered “I still love you Melinda” 

“Same here Phil” Melinda mumbled in her sleep, just the way she had on 23rd December, years back. Smiling contently, Phil let sleep take over him as well. 

The team came back a few hours later, and decided to go check on their bosses. They saw that May wasn’t in her bunk yet which meant that they were still together. Skye and Bobby grinned at that, and when they entered Coulson’s office and seeing TV light still coming from his bunk, Bobbi went to take a look and was surprised and called over Skye as well. When Skye came to the door, prepared to see something that would scar her for life, she was surprised to see Phil asleep, Melinda curled into him, head resting on his chest and he held her securely. Both of them having a content smile on their faces, one the team hadn't seen them give in a long time. 

Bobbi sneaked in and switched off the TV and as she stepped out, Skye quietly closed the door and they exited the office. 

“You think he told her ?” Bobbi asked. 

“I’m sure he did” Skye replied with a smile to see mom and dad finally together and happy.


End file.
